We are an inattentive people. We have a short attention span and an even
shorter memory – except for my husband who remembers everything! He quizzes me
on dates and places of various films we have seen over the years and hands out
points when I get it right! The points in this case don’t add up to prizes.
I have been reading through some chapters in Isaiah. Verse
4 of the same chapter made me smile:-
“Even to your old
age and grey hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I
will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.”
There are days when I feel older than I ought to. I am
encourages that God hasn’t put me out to pasture but has new things for me to
do.
I was thinking about what God has said to me over the
last few weeks and what I have done with them. I’d like to say that I have
built them into my prayers for myself and for other people but it’s stretching
the truth somewhat.
During our church prayer meetings there is an opportunity
to worship and to listen to God. There’s plenty of paper and pens for people to
write things down or draw pictures. And
there’s a time to share with others what God is saying. I draw something,
usually. I can’t draw as well as I write poetry but I think they have some
merit.
Dancing on the
Doorstep of Opportunity
OK so the man doesn’t look like he is dancing. He looks
like he is freaking out.
I thought this might be the doorway into heaven and
people dancing close but not yet making the commitment to cross the threshold.
In the gospels it speaks of counting the cost – the king going out to war or
the man building a tower and working out whether the task can be done. People
tend to think about what they might lose by committing themselves to God,
rather than what they might gain. They see the Christian life in terms of “thou
shalt not”.
This speaks to me of my own doorways, not into heaven,
but into the greater works that Jesus promised we would do. I skip around the
steps hesitating to commit myself. The task is greater than I am – but I don’t
do it by myself so it should not be a problem.
The Colour Grey
The other day I was reading an article in one of the
Sunday papers. The most recent census answers were being compared with a census
from fifty years ago. The conclusions they drew about religious faith were not
encouraging. There were less people confessing faith in God, or attendance at
church. “What are we doing wrong?” I asked God.
“You’re too grey!”
I had this idea of God going through a wardrobe and tossing
out old clothes that were out of date and frumpy, the grey, the brown and the
blacks. They represented prejudices, resentments and grudges that people hold
on to. They might also be habits, ruts
in our thinking and reluctances to explore new ways of worship or prayer.
God began filling up the wardrobe with colourful attire.
The robe of righteousness, He assured me, wasn’t grey.
Ask Me
In this picture someone was walking beside a river. It looked as if a cloud of tiny flies swarmed
around their head. Possibly one of my first encounters with Scottish midges occurred
when a lassie from the church invited us out on a picnic. There was a nice wood not far from the
house. We found a clearing, plenty of
sunshine through the trees, and spread out the feast. Seconds only went by
before the cloud of midges descended. I am sweet meat. I became bitten meat and
itchy meat and driven-to-distraction meat.
In my picture, however, a closer look revealed not midges
at all but questions. The person was plagued by questions.
Standing nearby was someone wearing a badge with the
words “Ask Me”. So often we think in
terms of going out to people and witnessing or door knocking – taking the
gospel to people. God was saying that we are coming into a season where people
are going to come to us and ask their questions. We need to be ready with our
answers, or with our honesty in saying we don’t know but we’ll find out and get
back to them.
The Treasure in My
Heart
When Jesus called His disciples it was firstly to be with
Him, and then later to preach and minster to people. The being with Him was to take priority. It was in the times of being with Him that
they gathered treasure, for want of a better word, the equipping and resourcing
for the mission.
As much as spending time of Jesus is good for us, it’s
also about taking what we have – the treasure in jars of clay – and giving it
away.
A friend of mine way praying that she would talk about
Jesus more confidently with her neighbours. The treasure she has to give away
comes out of the time she spends with Jesus.
So, that, among other things is what God has been saying
to me. It’s now recorded so I can read it again and again and let the words
fire my prayers.
Feel free to pray with me.
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